Crans-Montana, homicide investigation: checks on materials and escape routes

Crans-Montana (SWITZERLAND), Jan. 3 (AP/LaPresse) – The sparkling candles on the champagne bottles, the soundproofing material on the ceiling, and the compliance with regulations of the safety measures in place at the ‘Le Constellation’ venue, including fire extinguishers and escape routes. These are the key points of the manslaughter investigation into the New Year’s Eve blaze in Crans-Montana in Switzerland, which cost the lives of at least 40 people, many of them very young and under 25, and injured another 119, 113 of whom have been formally identified so far. The figures are still uncertain, but among the injured there are at least 71 Swiss citizens, 14 French, around a dozen Italians, as well as citizens of Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Luxembourg, Belgium, Portugal and Poland, according to Frédéric Gisler, commander of the Valais cantonal police. “You will understand that today the priority is really identification, to allow families to begin their mourning,” Beatrice Pilloud, attorney general of the Canton of Valais, told reporters on Friday during a press conference. “We are aware of the particularly difficult hours we are going through, of the unbearable nature of every minute that passes without answers,” added the head of the regional government, Mathias Reynard.